African tree with hanging fruit / SAT 12-29-18 / Natchez Delta Queen for two / Counterpart to Roman god Sol

Constructor: Robyn Weintraub

Relative difficulty: Easy (7:01, should've been Way faster)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: BAOBAB (28A: African tree with hanging fruit) —

Adansonia is a genus of deciduous trees known as baobabs. They are found in arid regions of Madagascar, mainland Africa, Arabia, and Australia. The generic name honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described Adansonia digitata.

In the early 21st century, baobabs in southern Africa began to die off rapidly from a cause yet to be determined. Scientists believe it is unlikely that disease or pests were able to kill many trees so rapidly, while some estimated that the die-off was a result of dehydration from global warming. (wikipedia)

Lots of personal best times will be achieved today. I could feel it as I soared through the first half of the puzzle. Thought for sure I was gonna come close to my own personal best time, certainly a personal best for the time I've been keeping track of times (since April), but then ... fate intervened. And by "fate" I mean "my dumb mistakes." Let's start with BAOBAB, which was my first foray into the east (where the wheels came off). Had the BA- and correctly guessed BAOBA- and then incorrectly guessed O. BAOBAO. Got POPPYCOCK just fine, so woo hoo, here we go! But oh my things got so bad because of my having the -BY in 21D: Pair that clicked in film. My brain: "--BY = BABY, try a "B" at 21A!" And what was 21A? [Flinch, e.g.]. And what did brain do: "Uh ... BLINK! Sure, that's ... yeah, BLINK!" So I went looking for BABY something for the "pair that clicked in film." Just death. I also couldn't get CAPE to save my life (43A: Ranch alternative). That's a kind of ... house? Ugh. We call them CAPE Cods, I think? I don't really know. Anyway, I should've gotten TIME MACHINE w/ literally no crosses, so no idea what happened there (10D: Fantastic means of travel). Had the -CH- and thought maybe some kind of CHAIR was involved. I told you the wheels came off! Found DJS very hard (52D: Plays at work?). No idea the dinosaur was named ARLO. Try very very hard not to think about the current administration, despite the puzzle's best efforts to force the issue, so honestly PENCE never occurred to me. How is he a "shadow president"? He doesn't do jack. He's an ungodly stuffed animal. Ugh, why am I even talking about this answer—WS loves this administration for reasons I'll never get, so a perfectly good word like PENCE gets this monstrous/dumb clue. Whatever—the main point is ... well, there are two main points. One is, one small mistake can totally destroy your solving time. And two is, this puzzle was delightful, even when I was flailing in the east, and despite the undead slug that is Mike PENCE lurking in the corner.

Five things:

• 53D: Meas. for a steno (WPM) — Saw "Meas.," had -PM, wrote in RPM. Good to read all of the clue.
• 43D: Ark unit (CUBIT)— you know that feeling when you know a word but you cannot retrieve the word? That. I had -BIT and was like "Oh, right ... AMBIT! No ... ugh, it's not ORBIT! What Is IT?"
• 46A: Fine dining no-no (SLURP)— what is "fine dining"? Seriously. Also, people SLURP wherever. This clue assumes a weird class-based dining situation from like the last century ... remember how "fine dining" used to be like big tables and French terms and maitre d's and snootiness? This is a sitcom / movie phenomenon that I've noticed. "Fine dining" in older tv / movies looks stuffy and terrible and is phenomenally class-aspirational. Anyway, there are "fine" ramen places where people SLURP the f*** out of their food, is what I'm saying. I SLURP my coffee for sure sometimes. SLURPing helps you taste. It's a ... surface area thing, I think. That's my slurping theory, at any rate, and I'm slupring to it. Speaking of fine dining ...

[17A: "The job's not great, but I can pay my bills"]

• 7D: Man's nickname that sounds like two letters of the alphabet (ABIE) — are we pretending this is an actual nickname. This is crosswordese. You can find it in the play "ABIE's Irish Rose" and the "Hair" song "ABIE Baby" and nowhere else. Isn't ABE already the nickname? Why is your "nickname" longer!?
• 54A: John, abroad (EVAN) — I see this clue a lot and always hate it. It's meant to make you think "bathroom," but then the answer is like EVAN or IAN or I don't care. Actually, I had no idea EVAN was John "abroad." We have EVAN here. The writer/editor of the Washington Post Sunday crossword (frequently superior to the NYT, btw) is an EVAN. Where is EVAN"John"? Wales? Pffft. So many EVANs in the world, why are you doing this clue?

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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